Pussy Willows
by NonTwilightAlice
Summary: The night before her wedding, Bella Swan is sitting in her bedroom, awaiting Edward. Someone else, however, arrives with an unusual gift that will force her to make a choice. Two-shot, but with multiple endings. Please read and review!
1. Bella

Disclaimer: If I could write as well as Stephenie Meyer, then Twilight would be mine. Unfortunately, the rights are hers. I do, however, have a vase of pussy willows.

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BPOV

I stared out of my window, watching silver drops of rain stream down the glass, leaving the outside world blurry and distorted.

Anxiously awaiting my finance, Edward, I calmed as a dark shape appeared outside of my window. He was back from hunting earlier than I had hoped, but he had reason to be back so soon; it was the day of our wedding tomorrow.

I frowned as the figure paused. Edward had vampire speed, he should use it. Knowing I would soak myself, I opened the window anyway. A gasp flew from my lips as I stared into the dark eyes of Jacob Black.

"Jake?" I started. "I thought you were gone!" My voice fell as I remembered my anger at Edward for mailing that ill-fated invitation. His voice broke through my reverie.

"Bella, you know I could never miss your," he paused, "wedding." Though his face remained a calm mask, deep down inside I could see a feeling – was it regret? scorn? pity? – haunting him.

"Besides," he continued. "I got you a gift." In his hand, ignored because of the shock his face caused, I saw a long thin package.

"Another one?" I glanced at the silver charm bracelet that I hadn't taken off since he put it on me. "Jake, you know that I can't stand-" he cut off my sentence.

"You have eternity with _him_, what's one more gift? This will be my last one. Anyway," he flashed my favorite smile, the one that made me nostalgic for the smell of motor oil, the hear of summer, and warm sodas in a paper bag. "I've only ever given you two gifts, three if you count this one, and this one is _special._" Implications were thick in his voice.

"But still, you know I've made my mind up. I make a choice, and I stick to it. I keep decisions, especially ones as painful as this one." I warned him.

"Of course," Jake replied sadly. "I know that, yet...here!" he bruntly shoved a bundle of sticks into my hand.

"Pussy willows? Jake, that's so...unique." I stroked the fuzzy white blossoms appreciatively as Jake glanced up nervously from behind the wet curtain of his chin-length hair. "I love them." I finished. He snorted.

"A bundle of sticks you love, no problem. But when it comes to a boy with morphing tendencies who loves you..." he trailed off.

"Jacob, you know I love you. It's just that I can't stand you being around so I can hurt you more. Yet when you leave, it's just as bad. What can I do?" I dropped the pussy willows as I sat on my bed and fell deep into thought. He slid down to catch them and put them back in my hand.

"Thanks," I blushed, an innate reaction to my clumsiness.

"It's no trouble for me to protect those who are breakable," he reminded me. That was his job these days, killing vampires to save the humans. I sighed, then stared at the pussy willows inquisitively.

"Jake," I started my sentence off delicately. "What do you _do_ with pussy willows?" I ducked my head, ashamed at my ignorance.

"Well, you can put them in a vase of water. They will root there, and you can plant them to grow in the soil. But," he paused. "The blossoms fall off until they're planted in the spring, and they don't look too pretty for a while. You have to plant them correctly or they'll die. With your gardening skills, that might not be the best option, though." He stopped as if he had told me something not for my ears.

"There's another option?" I hedged cautiously. A pair of marble arms gripped me from behind.

"The dog was debating telling you that you could dry them." He chuckled. "We could do that together, if you wish." His scent made my head light.

"Hey, that could be messed up, too!" Jake interjected. "If you aren't cautious, you could drop all the blossoms while they're drying. Then you would just end up with a bunch of _dead_," he emphasied the word with a snear, "sticks. I wouldn't trust a leech like him with something as important as life."

"But Bella, you don't have to make up your mind right now." Edward reminded me. "You could always plant them now and dry them later. There's no need for an ultimatum now."

"Yes, but with my luck would they still be alive a year from now?' I reminded the feuding pair. "I'm not the best at preserving life. A year from now, they'd be dead or crippled. Do you really want them to endure that?"

"It's the natural path, Bella. If the leech weren't here, you would simply let them grow." He glared at my fiance.

"I have the choice, though. It's mine, not either of your's. I have a part in it, too." I stared icily at my two favorite men. "What if I want to dry them immediately? What if I just chuck them in the trash? I don't need either of your help; I can do it with someone else."

"Bella, what will you do?" Jacob's eyes shamelessly pleaded. I stared hopelessly at my shoes.

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_AN: Well, it's your choice. Should she plant or dry them? I have both written, and I can post either once enough people vote. If you want to, I can post both, as to not to offend anyone who believes only Edward/Jacob can have Bella. Please review! By the way, sorry for the blatantly obvious symbolism. I'm not that good at symbolism yet.  
_

_-Alice_


	2. Mike

_AN: You voted...and shocked me. All 1.78 billion, no, all 200 million, no, all 4,000, wait, still wrong. Well, all of the voters were unanimous. You're getting both._

_Recap: "Bella, what will you do?" Jacob's eyes pleaded at me shamelessly. I stared hopelessly at my shoes._

And now to the story:

Ending C:

BPOV

"Jacob," I finally said. "Take your pussy willows back." His face grew shocked. His eyes begged for another chance. I dismissed him with a cold, heartless wave of my hand. I turned my back upon him, and I could hear the tiny sounds of him leaving from the window from which he came. Edward's arms encircled my waste as he brought his lips close to mine.

"Bella, I love you so much right now." He whispered to me. Edward's lips drew even closer and- I shoved them away.

"I didn't say I would be with _you_ either." His face became hollow with pain.

"This is what I said you should do. It's all my fault," he wept tears that could not come out.

"Sorry, Edward. I'm moving to Albuquerque with Mike." I put my fingers between my lips and whistled. Mike squealed up the street on a motorbike and scaled the tree to go into my room. I went to him, and we-

_Okay, ending C did not work out. I think I puked writing it. That was simply disgusting, please do not lose all hope in me. My older sister, who helped me edit, told me to write it as payment. The real endings, B and A, are coming soon. I just have to edit them so they don't end up like this one, a delusional fantasy from my sister's mind. It's actually not as bad as the original, though. She wanted me to put a three-some lemon in there. I shuddered at the thought._

_The real ones are coming, and soon!_


	3. Jacob

Alyz L0lcatt sez: Twylite no myne. S0ry.

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_AN: I am really sorry about the last **joke**__ chapter. It was late, and I was rushed when I wrote it. I suppose there is no excuse for writing a Bella/Mike fan fiction, though. Anyway, here is the next alternate ending!_

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Ending B

BPOV

"Call off the wedding," I murmured, shocking myself. What would I say next? "I'm letting them grow." Oh.

My feet trudged automatically towards Jacob. He grinned.

"I suppose she does love me more, huh, Cullen?" I looked back into Edward's face. It was gaping meaninglessly, looking not as a face should, but as a broken statue reassembled, broken and clumsily repaired, a grotesque mockery of its former beauty. The sight hurt worse than watching his body contort as Jane tortured him in Volterra; this time _I_ was causing the pain.

"I'm sorry, Edward. It seems like life prevails after all." Ignoring me, he walked towards the window silently. As he slowly climbed out, he looked back into my eyes.

"I'll always be waiting," he said, then jumped out of the window.

The sight was too much. I cried into Jacob's side as a cry of eternal pain floated in through my open window.

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_Wow, that was depressing. And short. I swear, it looked so much longer on paper, and my hand writing is tiny. I once fit two rows of writing onto each line to save paper. Obviously I didn't use much paper to begin with. This was written for all of you mutt-lovers out there, and the leech ending is coming next. Well, I don't really mean it that way; I believe firmly in Switzerland, though I'm leaning a bit more towards Edward. I did, however, find one theory that I hate to love: the clichéd Jacob/Leah. _

_Don't worry, Edward fans, his ending is coming next. It might even be longer!_

_- Alice_


	4. Edward

Alice: So, Mr. Psychiatrist, today was a great day! I realized that I am was really Stephenie Meyer all along, so I own all the books!

German Shrink: Now, now...we have discussed this all before. You are neither Ms. Meyer nor a Cullen. You are, in fact, just a lazy, crazy fanfic writer.

Alice: Nooooooooooooooooo!

In short, Twilight be not mine.

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_AN: And the ending you've all been waiting, and flaming, for: the one, the only, the Edward ending! Okay, maybe that didn't have such a large reaction as I thought, but stick with me, it's the __**last**__ one! Without further delay, the final ending!_

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"Jacob," I said mechanically. "Thank you for the gift. I'll keep them with me...always." He focused his attention on the rocking chair in the corner, then looked straight into my eyes.

"All along I knew that you wouldn't change your mind. You couldn't. Still, I had to try, didn't I?" he smiled listlessly. "I'll leave you two alone."

His lips brushed quickly against my cheek, as if it was not a boy doing the act but a ghost. I stood there numbly. This was the last time we could be together like this for all of eternity.

"I'll love you until the moment your heart stops beating," he promised. Suddenly, his tone shifted to whimsical, "Who knows, I might learn to live with dried pussy willows. They're still as beautiful as ever, inside and outside." He took the gift back from me, stroked it gently, then placed it back in my hand.

"Goodbye, Bella. Remember me always, even when you're hard and dry. Always..." he trailed off. With that, Jacob Black left my life.

I lost contact with my body then. I remember Edward's hard arms cradling me as he carried me to my bed. I remember sobbing into his marble chest, the tears seeming endless. The last thing of all, I remember the howl of a wolf in pain shattering the still night.

_Always_, it seemed to cry. _Forever is too long for me to wait._

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_The End! _

_All my endings seem to be the same. Both the serious ones are depressing, and the joke one is depressing, too. Think about eternity with Mike in Albuquerque! Please review so I can write more for you to read. _

_Thank you for reading this far,_

_-Alice_


End file.
